


together we rise

by cassandor



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ending Fix, F/M, Fix-It, Force-Sensitive Finn (Star Wars), Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Fix-It, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Spoilers, this is Canon in my head
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:40:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21874159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cassandor/pseuds/cassandor
Summary: At the end of all things, this is what the story of Skywalker is about.Darkness rises, and light to meet it."A thousand generations live in you now."SPOILERS FOR THE RISE OF SKYWALKER
Relationships: Finn/Rey (Star Wars), any other ship this is not the fixit you're looking for
Comments: 51
Kudos: 173
Collections: Finnrey Fanfic Connection





	together we rise

**Author's Note:**

> This *is* the fic you're looking for.

_"Be with me," _Rey sighs, lifeforce draining out as every breath. _"Be with me."_

* * *

A chill runs down Finn's spine.

It could be for a thousand reasons. He's standing on the deck of a Sith Star Destroyer, the world around him up in flames, spinning, falling, coming apart. TIE fighters shriek overhead, their clashes with Resistance ships a blurred mass of light and darkness and pain and hope. Rose calls his name, Jannah looks at him with wide eyes, and he can feel Poe searching for him, there, among the stars and strikers. 

In a galaxy exploding with chaos, cold fire, and rage, Finn stills. 

_Finn._

The grip on his blaster falters.

_Rey._

"Finn!" Jannah's gripping his shoulders, steadying him as the ship lurches. She shakes him. "Finn, what's-"

"Rey's in danger." Finn lightly touches Jannah's hand. She lets go of him, but the concern remains in her expression. "It's an instinct," he tells her, and she nods, because with everything she's seen today, she understands. "We _have _to go find her." 

He falters, suddenly remembering he's on a Destroyer and Rey is somewhere far, far, below. 

Jannah points at the sky, a weary smile on her face. "I think our ride's coming."

* * *

Finn hops out of the Falcon while Lando's still making an attempt to land, much to Poe and Jannah's chagrin. But he doesn't care - no, Finn cares too much, and the short fall ends in a landing far softer than one would expect. He doesn't notice, breaking into a run towards the throne, to the platform, to the body crumpled on the floor, _no, no, no - _

Rey's name tears itself out of Finn's throat. Again, and again, and again. The distance between them is far too great when he falls to her knees at her side. Palpatine could've been cackling over his shoulder, for all he knew, but his eyes and mouth and heart and soul were only for Rey, Rey, Rey.

If Kylo ran a lightsaber through him, right now, it would hurt less than the lack of a pulse under his cold fingertips.

"Rey," he murmurs between choked sobs. "Rey, no. Come back. Come back to me. **Come back to me.** It's over. You did it. _You did it. _It's all over, it's time, we can go home now, come with me. _Be with me._" He can feel his throat tightening around every word, tears filling his eyes and spilling down his cheeks, to Rey. The inexorable sadness, grief, guilt threatening to claim him entirely.

He's too late.

No, he couldn't be, he heard Rey calling for him, through the Force, reaching out through space and time, calling for _him._

He couldn't be, not after this, not after everything, not after all they've been through and all the galaxy's been through, this could not be the last word in their story. It couldn't be.

Finn's litany breaks off into a hollow cry, and he buries his face at Rey's chest, unable to hold her, cradle her, even look at her, denied one last hug, one last word, one last opportunity to tell her - 

_Finn._

Finn does not know Master Luke Skywalker's voice. He does not know Obi Wan's, nor Yoda's. He doesn't know the names of Tano and Jarrus and Unduli and Windu.

But he knows Leia's. 

All this rage. Hurt. Anger. This is the dark side. Just as much as Rey's fears beckoned her from the shadows, so too does his lifetime of hurt. Wailing his name, calling for him to come home, to avenge - what? who? Palpatine was dead, and so was Kylo - Finn had sensed it - so what was there left for him?

Rey, in his arms, the faint imprint of her soul - no, Leia's - thrumming inside her. Rey. Hope. A flicker of light in the darkness. He just has to reach for it.

He rests a hand over his heart, his chest swelling with no more anger, no more fear. He'd faced his worst nightmare. Kylo. Phasma. His past. 

And he'd defied them all. Crushed them. 

Finn reaches for his Rey, for the thousands of hearts beating above him in the sky thrumming with rejuvenated life, belief, hope. Every one of them, a spark, a candle - together an inferno.

He reaches for hope. For the moments of humanity in the darkness, for the girl who looked at a monster's bared teeth and felt compassion, not fear.

_Rey._

He closes his eyes, feeling every star in the galaxy shining bright within him, within them, within every Jedi and everyone who looked in the face of evil and said _not today. _

He takes in a deep breath and channels them all. He lets the light flow through him, guiding it, guiding her lifeforce, touching every life that lived in the light along the way. Tano and Jarrus and Unduli and Windu. Yoda and Qui Gon and Obi Wan. 

_"Be with me." _

Skywalker and Skywalker and Skywalker and Skywalker. 

_"Be with me." _

Poe and Jannah and Chewie and Lando.

_"Be with me." _

Each a spark that lights the fire of new life, of hope, of Resistance.

_Rey._

Finn draws light down from the sky.

* * *

When Finn speaks, his voice is the command of a thousand generations of Jedi.

**"Rise, Skywalker." **

* * *

Rey gasps, arching up under Finn's touch. The electricity sparking from his fingers fading away as blue light.

"Finn!"

Finn opens his eyes and is greeted to the sight of Rey staring at him in disbelief.

"Rey." Finn's voice cracks, worn gentle by relief and love. He helps Rey sit up, awkwardly propping her up in his lap. They're both panting. Finn's shaking with all the energy that's flown through him. His own life is still firmly in his body. Only a few drops of his lifeforce had been given to Rey, the rest of her restoration completed by every life he'd called upon. Rey trembles with the Force surging through her. So much dramatic change, and yet, in the end, they only look to each other, gazing at each other.

Finn sees light in her eyes and hope in her smile and a thousand generations of Jedi in her heart, soul, life-Force. He can't wait any longer. "There's something I need to tell you."

"I know," Rey says, and she smiles, but Finn wasn't talking about his Force sensitivity, what he'd just done, he meant -

_her. Him. Them._

"I know," she repeats, this time with the same half-smirk she'd greeted him with on Jakku, on the Falcon, the smile that means home. She touches his cheek, cups his face, and only then does Finn smile. He reaches for her too, pulling her close to him, _back to him,_ in a tight embrace. They find comfort in the one safe place they've ever had. Each other.

"I love you, Finn," she breathes into the crook of his neck, barely louder than her breathing.

He pulls back, and something flashes in Rey's eyes. Momentary fear, maybe, that she'd mistaken him. It quells when he cups her face with both hands.

"I love you, Rey." 

They kiss with the fervor of a thousand star-crossed lovers, with the gentleness of two children finally going home. 

**Author's Note:**

> Might just rewrite the trilogy, might not, but either way this had to be done so I can rest. Thank you fellow Finnreys for the past four years ♥


End file.
